Access portals, or ports, provide a convenient method to repeatedly deliver medicants to remote areas of the body without utilizing surgical procedures. The port is totally implantable within the body, and permits the infusion of medications, parenteral solutions, blood products, and other fluids. The port may also be used for blood sampling.
Known ports typically include a chamber accessible through a self-sealing septum. Septums of the prior art vary in shape, from a wafer-like cylindrical block of silicone to a pre-molded septum of U.S. Pat. No. 4,802,885 to Weeks et al. The pre-molded septum of U.S. Pat. No. 4,802,885 includes opposed convex surfaces and a peripheral ledge.
In common practice, a caregiver locates the septum of the port by palpation. Port access is accomplished by percutaneously inserting a needle, typically a non-coring needle, perpendicularly through the septum of the port and into the chamber. The drug or fluid is then administered by bolus injection or continuous infusion. Ordinarily the fluid flows through the chamber, into a catheter and finally to the site where the fluid is desired. Except for the septum, traditional ports are constructed from all-metal or all-plastic. Each type of construction has unique advantages and disadvantages.
All-metal constructions have the advantages that they maintain a septum in a self-sealing fashion after repeated percutaneous injections. Additionally, all-metal constructions, such as titanium, or stainless steel provide a port which is both biocompatible and compatible with the injected fluid.
However, all-metal constructions present the disadvantages that they are relatively heavy, difficult to fabricate and relatively expensive. Additionally, all-metal ports produce large Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) artifacts. On the other hand, all-plastic ports have the advantages that they are inexpensive to construct, light in weight, and do not create an MRI artifact. However, ports constructed from plastic have the disadvantage that infused fluids may react with the plastic body of the port. All-plastic ports contain the disadvantage that they cannot maintain a sealing engagement with the septum after repeated percutaneous injections. Additionally, all-plastic ports are susceptible to nicks and scratches on the interior surface by the accessing needle. These nicks and scratches could lead to nidus, blood clots, or precipitation formations.
Efforts have been made to combine the advantages of all-metal ports with all-plastic ports. For example, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,802,885 to Weeks et al., a metal reservoir having a chamber sealed by a pre-formed silicone septum is jacketed by a single piece of a silicone elastomer. However, all-metal ports jacketed by a single piece of elastomer have significant shortcomings. These shortcomings include quality control problems during manufacturing, and expensive molding processes.
Other efforts have focused on providing a multiple piece all-plastic housing in cooperation with an open metal cup to sealingly engage a septum. For example, see U.S. Pat. No. 5,213,574 to Tucker. This design has shortcomings associated with it, including defects in the plastic housing which may cause an improperly sealed septum. Once the septum is improperly sealed the entire port must be discarded.
Therefore a need has arisen for an access port device which addresses the problems of prior port devices.
A variety of implantable devices, known as subcutaneous access ports, are utilized to deliver fluids to or to withdraw fluids from the bloodstream of a patient. Such access ports typically include a needle-impenetrable housing which encloses one or more fluid cavities and defines for each such fluid cavity an access aperture communicating through the housing on the side thereof which is adjacent to the skin of the patient when the access port is implanted in the body. A needle-penetrable septum is received in and seals each access aperture. Exit passageways located in an outlet stem communicate with each of the fluid cavities for dispensing medication therefrom to a predetermined location in the body of the patient through an implanted catheter attached to the access port.
Once the access port and the catheter have been implanted beneath the skin of a patient, quantities of medication or blood may be dispensed from one such fluid cavity by means of a non-coring needle passed through the skin of the patient and penetrating the septum into one of the respective fluid cavities. This medication is directed through the distal end of the catheter to an entry point into the venous system of the body of the patient.
Blood may also be withdrawn for sampling from the body of a patient through such an access port. This is accomplished by piercing the skin of the patient and one of the respective septums with a non-coring needle and applying negative pressure thereto. This causes blood to be drawn through the catheter into the fluid cavity corresponding to the pierced septum and then out of the body of the patient through the needle.
To prevent clotting thereafter, the withdrawal route is flushed with a saline solution or heparin using again a non-coring needle piercing the skin of the patient and the septum in the same manner as if a medication were being infused.
Both intermittent and continual injections of medication may be dispensed by the access port. Continual access involves the use of a non-coring needle attached to an ambulatory-type pump or a gravity feed IV bag suspended above the patient. The ambulatory-type pump or the IV bag continually feeds the medication or fluid through the needle to the fluid cavity in the access port and from there through the catheter to the entry point into the venous system.
To facilitate locating each respective septum once the access port has been implanted, some access ports incorporate a raised circular ring located about the outer perimeter of the septum. This raised ring enhances the tactile sensation afforded by the subcutaneous septum to the palpating fingertip of a medical practitioner. Alternatively, other access ports have utilized palpation ridges rather than a raised circular ring for substantially the same purpose. The palpation ridges allow the location of the septum to be accurately determined when the access port is subcutaneously implanted.
To preclude reaction with the tissues in the body of the patient, access ports are constructed of nonreactive materials, such as titanium or stainless steel. Although these materials are nonreactive, access ports constructed utilizing titanium or stainless steel materials produce an interfering or blurred image of the body of the patient in the vicinity of the implanted access port when diagnostic imaging techniques such as magnetic resonance imaging (“MRI”), CAT scans, or computerized tomography are used. The blurred region caused by the presence of a metallic access port in the body of a patient extends beyond the access port itself. Therefore, the use of metallic access ports limits the diagnostic imaging techniques that may be used relative to those areas of the body in which an access port is implanted. In place of metallic materials some access ports have been fabricated at least in part from biocompatible plastics.
A further problem relating to the materials for and manufacture of access ports is the deleterious impact of some manufacturing procedures on the fluids which flow through the fluid cavities and related structures located between the fluid cavities and the catheter. During the manufacture of an access port, whether the port is comprised of metallic or plastic materials, it becomes necessary to form the fluid cavities and exit passageways through which the fluid will be directed into the attached catheter. This manufacturing process often leaves sharp edges, seams and corners in the areas where the fluid cavity is to direct the flow of the fluid through an exit passageway. As blood or other fluids are injected through the septum into the fluid cavity, pressure developed within the fluid cavity tends to cause fluid to flow through the exit passageway. As the fluid in the fluid cavity flows past the sharp edges and corners produced in the manufacture of the access port, turbulence arises, taking the form of a vortex, adjacent to the sharp edges and corners. Some fluids, such as blood, are sensitive to this turbulence, and lysing of the red blood cell component of the injected blood can occur in these turbulent areas.
In addition, the production of the circular fluid cavities often results in the creation of areas within the housing in which fluid flow is retarded. These areas are referred to as dead spaces and usually occur in areas of transition, such as where the bottom of the septum interfaces with the walls of the fluid cavity and where the floor of the fluid cavity meets the exit passageway through which the fluid must flow. As the flow of fluids through dead spaces is retarded, stagnation occurs, resulting in some fluid being trapped within these dead spaces. If the access port is used to withdraw or transfuse blood, blood trapped in these dead spaces may form clots and block the flow of fluid through the fluid cavity.
Moreover, in some prior vascular access ports the internal reservoirs are formed by two plastic parts with are bonded together. This results in an undesirable seam being formed where the adjacent parts abut one another. The inside of the reservoir should be as smooth as possible to help prevent damage to blood cells or the initiation of blood clotting during infusion or withdrawal of blood through the port.
A further problem encountered in the design and construction of access port relates to the positioning of the septums within the housing of the access port. The positioning of the septums within the housing is a compromise between two conflicting objectives. These are the need to separate the septums to such a distance so that the septums may be easily differentiated for the purpose of injection and the need to restrict the overall dimensions of the access port for patient comfort and aesthetics. The distancing of the septums to facilitate their differentiation, however, results in a corresponding distancing of the fluid cavities. This result is at odds with another structural requirement for access ports with plural cavities, namely that the exit passageways from each fluid cavity be closely spaced at the point where the implanted catheter is to be coupled to the access port.
To guide the flow of a fluid from each of the spatially separated fluid cavities into the side-by-side configuration of fluid outflow necessitated by the dimensions of a plural lumen catheter, intermediate structural members have been required. Naturally, this complicates the process of manufacture and increases its cost, as well as the changes of structural failure.
There are several examples of such intermediate members used to resolve the manufacturing constraints imposed upon the construction of a passageway flowing from spatially separate fluid cavities into a side-by-side configuration acceptable by a catheter. One is to produce passageways in the form of bent metal tubes which are then insert molded or welded into the larger body of the access port. The use of such a metal component will interfere with the production of an access port which is free of limits as to the diagnostic imaging techniques that may be used relative to those areas of the body in which an access port is implanted. In addition, the integral nature of such metal outlet passageways raises the possibility of leakage of medication through the interstices between the metal tubes and the body of the access port.
Alternatively, to produce fluid flow from spatially separated fluid cavities into the closely spaced lumens of a catheter, each fluid cavity has been designated with its own spatially separated outlet stem. These outlet stems are then coupled by a hub structure for permanent attachment to the closely spaced lumens of a catheter. This type of arrangement increases the size of the overall access port and its cost of manufacture by adding thereto the necessity of fabricating and assembling of the hub element. Port connections to catheters in this manner are permanent. Accordingly, if the catheter is to be shortened by trimming, that trimming must occur at the distal end of the catheter, and this precludes the use of any type of specially designed tip or valve.
An additional set of problems encountered in the use of access ports relates to the actual connection of the catheter to the access port. This is most commonly effected by securing the catheter to an outlet stem protruding from the housing of the access port. In an attempt to lock the catheter to the outlet stem of the access port, thread-type systems have been developed wherein the catheter is attached to an outlet stem, and the outlet stem is then threaded into the access port. When utilizing this system, however, it is difficult to determine the amount of engagement of the catheter onto the outlet stem. Some catheter connection systems do not allow visual verification of attachment. As a result, leakage and failure can occur.
To overcome this problem, access ports are produced in which the catheter is pre-attached at the factory. While this practice alleviates many of the problems with leakage and failure due to catheter slippage, this system severely limits the type of the catheter usable with the access port. This precludes the use of catheters having specialized distal tips, as the distal end of the catheter is the only end that can then be trimmed to effect its ultimate sizing. For example, catheters utilizing a Groshong® slit valve at their distal end may not have any of the distal tip of the catheter removed without compromising the catheter.
Thus, there has been a need for an improved vascular access port which overcomes the above-noted problems, and which can be manufactured economically. The present invention fulfills these needs and provides other related advantages.